Outdoor Expo is Mecca for new bass tackle launches

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The Bassmaster Classic and Bassmaster Outdoor Expo are taking place this weekend in Knoxville.

The annual Bassmaster Outdoor Expo, run alongside the Bassmaster Classic, has established itself as the largest event of its kind in the USA.

Sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods for the 11th year in a row, the event has become the place for manufacturers of bass fishing tackle and lures to present their new products for the forthcoming season.

This year it is being held in the Knoxville Convention Center and the adjacent World Fair Exhibition Hall, covering 220,000sqft across the two venues.

For the past decade, combined attendances at the Classic venues have averaged more than 100,000 a year and the event typically generates $25 million in economic impact.

The 2018 Bassmaster Classic in Greenville and Anderson, South Carolina, set a new attendance record of 143,000.

It is the first time that the Bassmaster has visited Knoxville and over 180 of the country’s top fishing tackle manufacturers will be on hand at the Expo, including the likes of Shimano, Daiwa Corporation, Mustad, Okuma and LIVETARGET, showing off their latest innovations.

Admission to the event is free and open to the public from noon to 7pm (Friday), 10am to 6pm (Saturday) and 10am to 4pm (Sunday).

The weigh-ins will take place at the Thompson-Boling Arena on the University of Tennessee campus – a 20,000-seat facility that is fifth largest of its kind in the country.

Doors open to the arena for B.A.S.S. Life and Nation members at 3pm and to the general public at 3.15 pm. First fish will be weighed between 4.15pm and 4.30pm.